Sentiment Lost
by chocolatebearturk
Summary: The hand on the outside of the bedclothes twitches and his eyes are drawn to it. It's clear the blonde one wants to reach for his human. Why doesn't he? What is there to fear in touching her?


**Sentiment Lost**

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><p>Dedication: To JDPhoenix, who brought me over to the dark side.<p>

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><p>He knows before she does when the blonde one wakes. The process is slow, but he expects it. His respiration quickens, as does his heartbeat, and as the boy comes into consciousness, he can see the pain in his face. It's never failed to fascinate him, the way these humans express their pain. The noises they make, the way they contort their facial muscles—fascinating, but quite undignified. He prides himself in the fact that he would never act in such a manner.<p>

Crookshanks yawns and gets up, stretching lazily. His human barely spares him a glance, too occupied with the hand she is clutching. She finally notices that the blonde one is awake when he lets out a low moan. She mutters what Crookshanks knows to be a very rude oath and he twitches his tail with amusement.

While she gets up to find more of the Devil Woman's foul-smelling bottles, he makes his way to the head of the bed, where he can examine the boy up close. His mouth is drawn into a tight frown and his face is perspiring. Leaning in to smell him, Crookshanks can feel the heat coming off his face. He's running a fever, then. Unable to do much to help him, he licks the boy's cheek until he opens his eyes. The salt burns his tongue, but he doesn't mind.

The boy blinks and then rolls his eyes upon seeing Crookshanks, but lifts his arm tiredly to scratch behind his ears. He returns the affection with his rusty purr and licks his fingers before he settles himself down next to the boy's head. They don't have long to wait before the female comes back, bearing the bottles she'd gone to fetch. She determinedly avoids looking the blonde one in the face and Crookshanks isn't sure whether to be amused or not when she nearly drops the goblet she's holding due to her shaking hands. He decides on not and turns his gaze back to the boy.

The hand on the outside of the bedclothes twitches and his eyes are drawn to it. It's clear the blonde one wants to reach for his human. Why doesn't he? What is there to fear in touching her? It only takes a moment for him to reach his decision. He stands once more, stretching and waving his tail in the boy's face, and walks down toward the hand. He watches it for a moment, cocking his head to the left and right, until he finally pounces and sinks his teeth into the boy's flesh.

With a cry, the blonde one yanks his fingers away and the female turns around to look at them. She sends a glare at Crookshanks and takes the boy's hand in hers, examining it for damages. When she goes to pull away, his fingers tighten.

"Draco…" she says softly. His eyes are pleading. She puts down the goblet, which Crookshanks is sure now was filled with sleepy-potion. She sits down again and they stare at one another.

He yawns. This got boring very quickly. He pads back down to the end of the bed and curls up between the blonde one's feet. He quirks an ear back to keep up with their whispered conversation.

"…you shouldn't be here, someone could see…"

"…patrolling, found out from a second year you were being brought in…"

"…just a fever, it'll pass soon as Pomfrey's potion kicks in…"

Ugh. Boring. He lays his head down on his paws. Not two seconds later, his human raises her voice.

"I don't _care_ what they think! Honestly, Draco, if I let them control every part of my life, I would be a sorry excuse for a person," she says in a harsh half-whisper. Crookshanks bristles at her anger. He never likes it when she's angry. His front paws are resting on the boy's leg and he unsheathes his claws.

The blonde one jerks his leg away with a wince of pain. "In case it has yet to occur to you, _I am the enemy_," he says through clenched teeth. He reaches over and pulls up his sleeve. Crookshanks perks up when his human gasps. He sees her staring at a black mark on the boy's arm and sniffs. _Oh_. She didn't know about that yet? His tail twitches with irritation when he realizes that the blonde one has been keeping information from his human.

"Draco!" she says. Crookshanks can tell from the way she sounds that her eyes are filling with water. He's never understood this particular human function, but he doesn't like it when she does it. "Do you mean that…?" The blonde one is silent and the water drips down her face. Their hands are still clasped. His human is does not speak for long, long moments until she finally wipes the water from her face. "What are you meant to do?"

"Don't," the blonde one says. His voice breaks. "Just… don't."

More silence. His human stands and begins preparing the sleepy-potion again and he settles back down between the blonde one's legs. Though he keeps an ear out for further words between the two humans, he has a feeling the conversation is over. His human gives the boy the potion and he drinks it, wincing at the taste.

Just before he drifts off to sleep, he whispers something that makes the female's breath catch in her throat. She waits until he is asleep to take his hand and whisper it back.

The sentiment is lost on Crookshanks, but then, he _is_ a cat.

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><p><em>end<em>


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